Gifts for the footie-frenzied; from World Cup balls calendars for your wall

Brendan Quarry, co-founder and inventor of the Cambie Soccer Box. The Cambie Soccer box, which has all the items a coach needs to run practice, is a practical gift idea for coaches this Christmas.Photo by

There’s no need for last-minute midnight shopping madness for the soccer fanatic on your list this Christmas.

Thanks to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in June, you can easily cross them off your list with any World Cup-related gift.

“Since that World Cup draw happened on (Dec. 6), we’ve had an immediate demand and sort of rush for (gifts),” said general manager at Richmond’s SportsTown Soccer Shop, Craig Burnham, adding that shoppers are generally hunting for World Cup jerseys and country tees.

“It’s all World Cup driven.”

While the jerseys are generally a big-ticket item, ranging at about $100, there’s also less expensive World Cup-related options, like the new Adidas Brazuca World Cup balls.

The official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is also a big-ticket item, costing $150, but the replica balls are much less expensive at $30, and so are the mini-skills balls, which are $15. And while it’s a great gift for soccer fans, it’s also a practical one for young athletes.

“The thing about the replica World Cup ball, if you play, it’s a really nice-quality ball,” said Natasha Barrow, manager of Vancouver’s SoccerWest store on West Broadway.

“The replica is only $30, so you get a really good ball for not very expensive, whereas most of the time you’re paying about $50.”

Barrow also suggests gifts like supporter scarves (about $30), socks ($7 to $12), shin guards ($15 to $30), as well as training gear like under armour, training pants, compression tights and shirts, which range anywhere from $50 to $90.

Burnham suggests the new Adidas boots, with the Samba collection just released in time with the World Cup draw as well.

“The youth players want the latest colour,” he said. “And it’s a good time for (parents) to get new boots for the kids because they’ve probably outgrown the ones they started the season with.”

As for stocking stuffers, team calendars from Madrid, Barcelona to Manchester United are always a popular item.

“We can’t keep them on the shelf,” said Burnham.

He also suggests the mini-skills balls as “perfect” stocking stuffers, since they actually fit in the stocking.

And when it comes to finding the perfect gift for a coach, the best option is for team players to pitch in to buy something practical.

A common coach gift is a quality ball that all the players sign, or a stadium jacket, which costs about $150.

Another option for coaches is also the Cambie Soccer Box, a practical equipment bag for coaches created and co-founded by Richmond’s TSS Academy’s Brendan Quarry.

“When I coached in the community, one of the things that always sort of struck me was how so many coaches would walk to the soccer field lugging all kinds of equipment,” said Quarry.

The Cambie Soccer Box solves this problem by organizing all of the necessary coaching items — from cones, pinnies, a first-aid kit, and ice — into their own compartments (even a thermal compartment for the ice).

While it’s a relatively new product, Quarry has sold more than 300 and said it’s become a common Christmas gift.

“I just go and grab my Cambie Soccer Box and walk it to the car, and I’m comforted in knowing that all my items are there and I don’t have to scramble around making sure I’m not forgetting anything,” he said.

The Cambie Soccer Box costs $99 and can be purchased online at cambiesoccer.com.

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